


Be Good

by Pluttskutt



Series: FH Flatmates AU [3]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 21:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8261410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pluttskutt/pseuds/Pluttskutt
Summary: Fenris tries to adjust to Garrett's odd behavior and Garrett does what he can to make his new flatmate feel welcome.





	1. Privacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patience. I think another part of another part of the series will have multiply chapters too. I hope you enjoy!

_Hands tore at his clothes. They forced his limbs apart. Ignored his protests. He begged them to stop but the voices mocked him. He wanted it. He asked for this. They told him so every time. He never understood how he asked for it and pleaded for them to stop. The hands didn't listen. They grabbed his hair and forced him down. The voices told him to stop struggling. To behave. To be good._

 

@-->\-->\---

 

Fenris stirred his ice tea with the pink spoon Garrett gave him. It was a pastel pink, which went well with the Winnie the Pooh mug he drank from. There were many mugs of various size and colour in the cabinet. The coffee machine was blue and went with the microwave. However, the muffin maker was a light pink and stored under the sink with the electric mixer. It was an interesting contrast to all the black furniture. The wooden floor was dark, but not black. He was sure there was a name for the shade but he didn't know it.

“All done!” Garrett called from the living room. Fenris walked out the kitchen to see his handwork. A black curtain obscured his view of the living room like the man said. Cooper made a disapproving sound at it.

“Thank you,” he wasn't sure how many times he thanked the man. The room, the food, the clothes, it was more than he dared to hope for. It was only the first day so everything could still go to hell but Garrett seemed to be genuine with his kindness.

“No problem! Come inside,” Garrett said. Fenris pushed the curtain aside and walked inside. Cooper whined from the other side. He opened the curtain for the dog to walk through. This earned him an approving lick on his free hand. The hound walked over to the sofa and took its rightful place at the foot of it.

“Your hound will be okay with the curtain?” Fenris asked. Garrett stopped his fiddling with the curtains by the window and looked over at him. Fenris gestured at the hound on the floor. Garrett sighed which developed into a long drawn out groan.

“He'll live,” he finally said, “Can you grab the plants?” Fenris walked over to the windowsill and grabbed the one plant there was. It looked near death. He watered it earlier but wasn't sure that would help.

“What are you doing?” he asked and put the plant on the floor. It was tiny and dry. The man should have bought a new plant at the store. They had a huge selection of plants. A cactus would be Fenris' first suggestion.

“Putting up blackout curtains,” he reached up with no difficulties and grabbed the curtain rod. Fenris watched him switch out the butterfly patterned curtains for black ones. The butterflies were pretty but difficult to sleep with. The sun shone right through them.

“I could have done that,” Fenris said. He didn't like that this man prepared everything for him while he just stood on the side drinking ice tea.

“Yah but I know where everything is, and if I'd known earlier you were moving in I would have fixed everything before you even got here,” Garrett explained and switched out the other curtain. He glanced over at Fenris and smiled when they made eye contact. Fenris promptly looked away.  
“Thank you,” he said again. It felt like those words meant less and less. Nothing he said or did could show his gratitude to everything this man did. They didn't even know each other. Fenris knew he did it because the dwarf (a close friend of his, it seemed) asked for it. A favour for a friend was what it was. A big one.

“You got it!” Garrett grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Fenris smiled back with the will he could muster to do so. They'd been out for hours to shop food and other utilities, and also to get Cooper. The man dumped his hound at a dog daycare when he went away. He didn't say where he went, Fenris hadn't asked, but he smelt like a pine tree. Odd but better than cigarette smoke.

“I appreciate it,” the man smiled at his words. He said Fenris didn't have to think about ever paying him back, but he accepted the thanks. That was good. He hadn't shown any signs of annoyance with Fenris yet. The dwarf hadn't told him the reason Fenris needed help, and he hadn't asked. He just accepted the situation and did what he could to make Fenris feel comfortable. It was weird. He was a weird man.

“I'm glad,” he looked out the windows, “I have to take Cooper out for a run, you okay with being alone?” why did it matter if Fenris was okay with it? Cooper needed his walk -run- and Fenris' personal feelings couldn't hinder that.

“May I ask a question, about your hound?” Fenris asked and looked at Cooper. The hound stood up and stretched with a yawn. He had sharp teeth.

“Of course, go for it,” Garrett smiled. He liked his hound. He liked to talk not only about his hound but to it also. Especially when they'd been parted for a few hours, or when he walked out of the bathroom. Fenris assumed he came from Ferelden but hadn't asked.

“Why Cooper?” he asked. It bugged for a while because he couldn't stop wondering. Was there a deep profound meaning behind his name, or a simple eeny, meeny, miny, moe?

“The name?” Fenris gave a short nod, “Have you seen the fox and the hound?” he shook his head, “Okay, I'm making you see that anyway there's a hound named Copper, but someone misheard it as Cooper, and here we are,” he explained. A short version of a longer story for sure. He left out who misheard it. Fenris didn't think it was him because he said earlier he was a substitute for Cooper's master.

“It's a fine name,” Fenris said. Garrett snorted.

“Thanks, I'm sure he's flattered, you know it's a car?” he sighed, “Anyway, we'll be going, c'mon boy,” he clapped his thigh and Cooper walked after him. He held the curtain so Cooper would walk outside, and nodded approvingly.

“Enjoy your walk,” Fenris said.

“Thanks,” the curtain fell closed. Privacy. He'd forgotten what that felt like. Not that he knew for certain Garrett wouldn't walk in and out as he pleased. It was his apartment after all. He had a right to do that.

Fenris picked up the flower pot and put it on the windowsill again. It was so tiny it could stand there even with the curtains pulled down. He'd need to pull them up when he woke up so the flower wouldn't die because of lack of sunlight instead for lack of water. If he could take care of the dying plants in the apartment, surely the man would see a use to have him around?


	2. Sweet

Morning silence filled the bakery. Music played from the speakers in a low tune for a mellow mood. By a window sat an elderly couple. One of the ladies read the morning paper, the other sat with her eyes closed. Occasionally she opened them and looked outside, or around the bakery. Her eyes landed on Garrett for a moment, travelled to Fenris, and a crease formed on her forehead. Her eyes wandered again. Fenris glanced at her and his shoulders grew stiffer by the minute. Garrett didn't know it was possible for anyone to be so stiff. It was like he expected someone to lash out at him any minute.

”You okay?” Garrett asked, even tho it was evident he wasn't. He'd been tense since they walked outside. Cooper would be a great help but he spent the day at the daycare to meet other hounds. It was important he didn't get used to not being around other animals.

”Yes,” Fenris leant back in his seat and stared at the table. Garrett tried to figure out what was wrong. He didn't like to put labels on people but it was obvious something was wrong. Social anxiety? General anxiety? Both?

”Sorry I forced you down here, but you need a key and it takes a while to copy so I thought we'd spend the time at the bakery, we can leave if you want,” he offered. Fenris hadn't disagreed to going out, but he didn't seem to enjoy it.

”You did not force me,” Fenris disagreed. Garrett wondered how he should proceed. He wanted to eat, but not if Fenris wanted to go home and hide under the covers.

”It's a habit of mine to eat breakfast here, I won't force you to tag along in the future,” he smiled. He was sorry about it. The whole situation clearly made Fenris uncomfortable. Silence fell over the table, which Garrett normally wouldn't mind. He went through various topics in his mind. What did people talk about to become acquaintances? Football? Nails? Manicures? Oh, he should buy a spa certificate for Bethany on her birthday. She'd like that.

”Good morning,” Orana interrupted his thoughts. She smiled kindly and looked at Fenris. ”Would you like something to eat or drink?” she asked. He knew what he wanted. The same thing he wanted every Friday. The reason for Friday to even exist. His motivation for living to next Friday.

”Good morning Orana,” he smiled at her. ”What do you want?” he looked at Fenris, who looked at him. He glanced at Orana.

”You've not been here before, right?” she smiled. This is what she'd been trained to do, so Garrett trusted her to get Fenris to at least order a glass of water.

”No,” he answered.

”Are you allergic to anything?” she asked, and picked up her writing tablet with a pen.

”No,” another short answer. She smiled and clicked her pen.

”We have bread if you would like breakfast, or pie for brunch,” she started. A new silence fell, and Orana waited patiently. Garrett said nothing. He trusted her, she was good with customers. Patient.

”I would like something sweet,” Fenris said. She wrote on her tablet.

”Sweet to eat or to drink?” he glanced at Garrett. He didn't realise why first until it hit him that Fenris might want both but was afraid of the cost. He couldn't pay himself.

”You can order both,” Garrett smiled. Was that what he'd been anxious about since they walked out? Of course, stupid Garrett. He'd probably be anxious about money until he had a way to make his own. A debt he couldn't ever repay.   
When Garrett came to Kirkwall he had the luxury of staying with family. He hadn't met Gamlen before that, and they didn't get along well, but they were family.  
Garrett and Fenris had no bond to stop Garrett from kicking him out if Fenris did one thing to annoy him. Fenris went with him to oblige even tho it made him anxious because he wasn't sure which option would be worse for him. It'd take a while to make him realise Garrett wouldn't kick him out. Even if something happened he'd make sure Fenris had another place to stay before he made him leave.

”Garrett,” Fenris spoke his name. He turned his head to look at him.

”Hmm?” what did he miss? Orana no longer stood by the table. He missed what Fenris ordered. ”Sorry, I spaced out,” he apologised. He did that when they met the first time too. Not the most polite thing to do. ”What did you say?” he rested his arms on the table and crossed them over each other.

”Thank you,” Fenris looked at him. For a short moment, there was eye contact. Garrett smiled in response. Fenris looked away outside. He had reluctantly pulled down his hoodie when they walked inside the bakery. The dark circles under his eyes remained, but his hair had been washed and combed. His hair looked soft, unlike Garrett's own messy excuse of hair.

”Is it too early to ask how you're feeling about this?” Garrett asked. Fenris looked at him again. He couldn't hold eye contact for long, but he tried. ”If something is bothering you, you can talk with me,” he added when Fenris said nothing. He wasn't slow with answers unless he was uncomfortable or didn't know what to say (was the expression he gave so far anyway) so Garrett wouldn't push an uncomfortable subject.

”I do not want to burden you more,” Fenris rejected him. Garrett watched him and struggled not to disagree. They were strangers. He shouldn't go on about how none of this was a burden. Even if it was, it was a burden he accepted himself so it would be his fault for finding it a burden. Fenris didn't seem to see it that way.  
He wondered how Fenris looked on the situation and the relationship between them. Did he care to make it better, or would he only aim to please Garrett to make sure he wouldn't be thrown out?

”Here you are, I'm terribly sorry you had to wait but we had to whip up more cream,” Orana said as she walked over to them. She had everything they ordered on a large tray and put them on the table one by one.

”No worries, thank you Orana,” Garrett smiled at her. She put down the napkins with spoons last.

”Please enjoy,” she walked away. He looked over at Fenris and saw a chocolate cake with fudge topping and whipped cream, next to that was a red drink. Sweet tooth.

”You refer to her by name,” Fenris said when she was behind the counter again. Garrett grabbed a spoon and Fenris grabbed the other one.

”What else would I call her?” he couldn’t wait to devour his slices. Friday was the best day of the week. He took a bite and looked up at Fenris. Who stared at him. Did he take too much into his mouth? He did that occasionally.

”Is it not personal to call a person by their first name while they are working?” so it wasn't what he did, it's what he said. That happened occasionally too.

”I don't know, maybe, I haven't asked if she's uncomfortable with it, do you think she is?” he glanced at Orana. She didn't look bothered by it as she walked over to the elderly couple and poured them fresh coffee. Maybe it was a thing outside Ferelden? He hadn't travelled much and hadn't spent much time in other parts of Kirkwall or the rest of the Free Marches.

”I do not think she minds,” he took a bite of his cake. Garrett observed him. He hadn't paid it much attention first, to him, it was a normal chocolate cake. He stopped for a second, as everyone did when they realised just how delicious what they ordered tasted the first time they ate at the Amell bakery.

”Is it good?” Garrett asked and took a bite of his own cake. It was a small piece of heaven on a plate. He truly missed the caramel cheesecake every day of his life. The one his sister baked tasted better but it was only a small difference.

”Yes,” Fenris took another bite. ”Thank you,” he thanked again. Garrett thought it was cute in a way. It came on automatic most of the time, but he knew Fenris was grateful. He hadn't said a word about why he was so desperate, but it wasn't needed. Garrett was curious but wouldn't ask. Fenris could choose to never tell. The focus needed to be on making him able to start fresh in Kirkwall, not on his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, don't forget to kudos or comment. I appreciate it!


End file.
